Book Blurb:
Foster knows his desires aren’t
for the faint of heart, especially not for someone as sweet and innocent as his
pretty neighbor. But when Cela shows up at his door with an invitation that
surprises him, he can’t resist indulging. Cela has no idea what she’s in for.
The secret dark side of this man’s need will both intrigue and terrify her. But
Cela has a secret of her own—and a new game to see just how far they’re both
willing to go, and how much they’re willing to risk by crossing every boundary
of desire.
My Thoughts:
For those who don't know Not Until You actually started as a eight part serial: Dare, Risk, Crave, Trust, Beg, Surrender, Believe, and Love. If you are like me, you are not a fan of the serial thing and didn't get a chance to read Not Until You. However, that's not the only reason I hadn't read the serial, the other reason is I hadn't discovered Roni Loren yet. That has been rectify since then. Anyway, the eight part serial has become a one book, YAY. I got a chance to read story as the entirety, and here are my overall thoughts on the Not Until You:
First off, I love Roni Loren's writing, because it's the story that fuels the plot instead of sex. Granted there is some hot steamy sex, but that isn't the main point of the plot. Basically we have two people that have an attraction to one another, but come from different worlds. Cela who was raised in strict family environment, and lives in fear of getting disown and banished from the family. To me that doesn't sound like a family. If you can't tow the line than you need to hit the road is not the definition of family. So, Cela has always tried to stay with in the line and never questioning it until she gets a taste of what Foster offers. Now Foster is interesting guy. He's fueled by this need to protect and dominate. Foster finds that Cela calls to all his need, but he's afraid to touch her cause of her innocence. I think he has a this fear that she's going to run once he gives her a taste of something she secretly craving.
I love how Not Until You is laid out, because you can see each section focuses on one part of the story. You have Dare which is gets Cela out of her comfort zone and taking a chance with her neighbors. Risk, where Cela and Foster have to decided if it's worth it. Crave, coming to terms that they want each other. Trust, both of them have to learn to trust one another which isn't easy for one another. Beg, yeah pretty self explanatory. Surrender, a lot of this deals with Cela deciding if she can surrender to Foster. Believe, Foster trying to get Cela to see the possibilities. Love, we have to have a happy ending. In each part builds and I think each part was title appropriate. Overall, I love the characters and the story, because it's just beautifully written. Plus, Roni Loren packs a lot of emotion into her stories. They aren't one sided characters, but deep and flawed. I love Foster cause he's a tad bit over protective and feels the need to protect. Cela is great because she has such character growth. At first, she's shy and innocent, but grows into this confident person that she didn't know was there. So, if you are looking for that hot steamy read that's going to keep you warm these cold winters night you might take a chance on Not Until You.
Copy provided by Berkley via NetGalley
Excerpt CHAPTER 1:
I did my best not to let my cell phone
slip from between my ear and shoulder. Just don’t drop the tequila. I adjusted
the enormous bottle my friend, Bailey, had given me as a graduation present
from my right hand to beneath my left arm and tried to dig my keys out of my
purse so I could open the main door to my apartment building.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to make it,
Cela,” my older brother said, his guilt obviously trumping my request to call
him later. “I got caught at an investigation site this morning. I thought I’d
be able to get there in time, but we had a witness wanting to talk and….”
I cursed silently as my keys hit the
pavement. I crouched down, doing my best not to flash my underwear to anyone
who may be passing by. “Really, it’s fine. They called my name. I walked across
the stage and got a piece of paper and a sash for being summa cum laude. Papá
yelled my name like he was at a baseball game instead of a ceremony. Mamá
cried. We all went to lunch at Rosario’s and then the two of them headed back
to the airport. Not that interesting.”
My brother’s heavy sigh said
everything. I almost felt guilty that he felt so guilty. “Before you move back
home next month, we’re getting together to celebrate. My baby sister, the
doctor. I’m so proud I could burst.”
I smiled. I did like the sound of that.
Dr. Marcela Medina, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. Seven years of exams and
studying and clinics, but it was finally done. Now it was time to leave Dallas
and head back home to Verde Pass and take up the slack in my dad’s practice.
That last part had my smile faltering a
bit. I hooked my key ring with my finger and wobbled back to a stand. “That’s
sounds great. But I really have to get going. I have my hands full and need to
get through the door.”
“Cela, you know better than to carry
too much. Parking lots at night are one of the most dangerous places for women.
Are you holding your mace?” he asked, his voice going into that bossy cop tone
I was all too familiar with.
“It’s in my hand,” I lied, trying to
remember where I’d stowed the last little canister he’d given me—probably in my
junk drawer. “But I don’t have a free hand to pull the door open.”
“All right,” he said, placated.
“Congratulations again. I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
The phone call ended but I didn’t have
a way to take the phone off my ear, so I just shuffled forward in a sideways
hunch, trying to juggle everything I was holding to get my key into the door.
After two attempts, I got the lock turned and pressed my back against the glass
door to push my way into the lobby.
As soon as I’d cleared the entrance and
turned toward the stairs, male voices sounded behind me. Of course someone
would show up right after I didn’t need help anymore. I peeked back to see who
it was, Andre’s danger warnings still echoing in my head, but found something
more distracting than criminals—my neighbors, Foster and Pike.
Foster stepped through the main door
first and glanced my way. As usual, everything went melty inside me, his smile
like a zap of heat to my system. Ridiculous. “Need some help, neighbor?”
I straightened, but forgot about my
phone in the process. My brand new I-
Phone
went sliding off my shoulder.
“Crap!” I lurched forward, trying to
save it from its imminent demise, and accidentally dropped my plastic bag of
Chinese takeout on the way.
“Whoa, there.” Pike, Foster’s roommate,
was at my side in a second. His hand caught my elbow, saving me from losing the
ginormous bottle of liquor along with my balance. But my phone clattered to the
ground, the harsh sound mixing with the splat of my noodles hitting tile.
I winced, anticipating a broken screen.
“Dammit.”
Foster bent down, his tie brushing the
ground as he swept my phone off the floor. He peered at the screen, dark brows
lowering over pale eyes, then he turned the phone toward me—the happy puppy
screensaver staring back at me in tact. “All is well. Luckily, these things are
built to take a licking.”
My brain got snagged on the work lick,
and the back of my neck went hot. My lips parted, but words failed me. Great,
imitate a gaping goldfish--that’s cute.
Pike cleared his throat, easing the
tequila from my arms, and then crouched down near the open bag at my feet. He
grabbed a noodle from the spilled box of Chinese food, tipped his head back and
dropped it into his mouth, his eyes watching mine. “The lo mein’s a loss,
though.”
I swallowed hard, his gaze even more bad boy
than the tattoos peeking out from his open collar. His pierced tongue snaked
around the noodle. Look away. I forced my face upward, but then ended up
focusing on Foster again. Say something. God, I was standing there like an
idiot. This was why I always avoided these two like they were contagious. They
made me go stupid.
Foster held out my phone, and I managed
to take it, the slight brush of his fingers against mine hitting the reset
button in my brain. I managed a feeble, “Thank you.”
Foster glanced at the mess on the
floor. “I’m really sorry I said anything. I didn’t mean to distract you from
your intricate juggling act.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s my fault. I
shouldn’t have been trying to carry everything at once. It’s been a long day,
and I was hoping to save myself a second trip up the stairs.”
“The joys of a walk-up.” Pike grabbed a
few napkins and started cleaning up the noodles at my feet like it was his mess
to worry about.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that.” I
lowered down to my knees. “I’ll take care of it.”
He grinned over at me, the mirror
opposite of his roommate. Ian Foster was all suits and dark looks—a man who
preferred to be called by his surname. Whereas, Pike didn't seem to even have a
last name. He was a drummer in some popular local band—jeans, a
sex-on-the-mind-smile, and spiked, bleached hair his usual uniform. Not that I
had studied either of them. Or listened to their escapades through the wall I
shared with them. Not at all.
Keep telling yourself that, Cela.
Despite my protest, Pike helped me
finish picking up the mess. “So what’s the big ass bottle of tequila for? No
one could’ve had that bad of a day.”
I glanced over at the bottle I’d set on
the floor, debating whether I could be trusted to have normal conversation with
these two without sounding like I had a speech impediment. “I, uh, graduated
today. It was a gift.”
“Oh, right on.”
“Congratulations, Cela,” Foster said.
Just the sound of him saying my name in that smooth, dark voice had my stomach
clenching. He was all southern refinement, but I didn't miss the glimmer of a
drawl underneath it all.
Ay dios mio. My body clamored to
attention like an eager Labrador ready to be petted. Down, girl. These guys
were way above my pay grade. I wasn't dumb or delusional. I’d seen/spied
on/secretly hated the women who’d passed through their apartment door—women who
looked like they’d earned their doctorates in the art of seduction.
I hadn’t even reached the kindergarten
level in that particular department.
“Thank you.”
“You were going to vet school at Dallas
U, right?” Foster had tucked his hands in the pockets of his slacks, and though
the question was casual, I had the distinct impression he was tense beneath
that suit jacket.
Pike handed me a napkin for my hands
and stood to toss the food into a nearby trash can.
I wiped off my hands and pushed myself
to my feet, trying to do it as gracefully as possible in my restrictive skirt.
“Yes, how’d you know that?”
“The scrubs you wear have the school
insignia on them,” Foster said, as if it was totally normal that he’d looked at
me that closely.
“Observant.” Especially considering I
usually only managed a head-down, mumbled hey-how-are-ya exchange when we
passed each other in the hallway. Secretly listening to one of your hot
neighbors having sex had a way of making eye contact a bit uncomfortable the
next day—particularly if said eavesdropper had used the soundtrack to fuel her
own interlude with her battery-operated boyfriend.
Not that I had. Several times. Whatever.
Pike sidled up next to Foster—a motley
pair if there ever was one. “So, doc, now that you’ve got no dinner and clearly
too much liquor on your hands, why don’t you join us? We already have pizza on
the way, and we can play a drinking game with the tequila. Do college kids
still play Never Have I Ever? I was always good at that one.”
Kid? Is that what they saw me as?
Neither of them could be that much older than I was. Though in terms of life
experience, I had no doubt they trumped me a few times over.
“Oh, no, that’s okay.” The refusal was
automatic, long practiced. How many times had I turned down such offers—from
guys, from friends? My parents had been so strict when I was younger that I
almost didn’t know how to say yes even after living on my own the last few
years. Studies first. Fun later. Yet, there never seemed to be any time for fun
after the first one was finished.
“You sure? I don’t want you going to
bed with no dinner because of us,” Foster said, frown lines marring that
perfect mouth of his.
Going to bed and us was about all I
heard. My father’s stern voice whispered in my ear. You don’t know these men.
You’ll be all alone in their apartment. Medina women have more respect for
themselves than that.
“Really, I’m fine. I had a big lunch,”
I said, my smile brief, plastic. “But thanks.”
“Oh, come on,” Pike said, his tone
cajoling. “We’ve been neighbors for what, two years? We should at least get to
know a little about each other.”
Get to know each other? I knew that
Foster was loud when he came—even if he was alone. Knew that Pike liked to
laugh during sex. Knew the two men shared women. And the other sounds I’d heard
over the last two years…the smacks, the commands, the erotic screams. My face
went as hot as if I’d stuck my head in an oven.
“Y’all just want me for my tequila,” I
said, attempting to deflect my derailing thoughts.
The corner of Pike’s mouth lifted. “Of
course that’s not all we want you for.”
"Uh…" Oh, hell. Pictures
flashed across my brain. Dirty, delicious pictures. I almost dropped my phone
again. I had no idea what to do with my hands, my expression.
Foster put a hand on Pike’s shoulder.
“The lady said no. I think we should let her go celebrate her graduation
however she wants.”
“All right.” Pike’s face turned hang dog,
but he handed me the tequila bottle. “If you change your mind, we’ve got big
plans. Supreme pizza and a Star-Wars-themed porn marathon. The Empire Sucks C—”
Foster smacked the back of Pike’s head,
and Pike ducked and laughed.
“Kidding. I mean, a Jane Austen
marathon,” Pike corrected, his green-gold eyes solemn. “Pride and Pu—”
Foster was behind Pike, his hand
clamping over his friend’s mouth in a flash. “I seriously can’t take him out.
He’s like an untrained puppy. Maybe you can lend me a shock collar or
something.”
Pike waggled his eyebrows, all playful
wickedness.
I laughed, putting my hand to my too
hot forehead, and turning toward the stairs. “Yeah, so, I’m going to go now.”
“Cela,” Foster said as I put my foot
onto the first step.
I glanced back. “Yeah?”
His ice melt eyes flicked downward, his
gaze alighting along the length of me before tracing their way upward again in
a slow, unashamed perusal. “Promise you won’t go to bed hungry.”
I wet my lips, my skin suddenly feeling
too tight to accommodate the blood pumping beneath it, and nodded.
But it was a lie.
I always went to bed hungry.
And it had nothing to do with a spilled
dinner.
Purchase
links:
Author Bio:
Roni wrote her first romance
novel at age fifteen when she discovered writing about boys was way easier than
actually talking to them. Since then, her flirting skills haven’t improved, but
she likes to think her storytelling ability has. Though she’ll forever be
a New Orleans girl at heart, she now lives in Dallas with her husband and
son.
If she’s not working on her
latest sexy story, you can find her reading, watching reality television, or
indulging in her unhealthy addiction to rockstars, er, rock concerts. Yeah,
that's it. She is the National Bestselling Author of The Loving on the
Edge series from Berkley Heat.
Places to
find Roni Loren:
Giveaway
Info:
(if international winner is chosen, a $50 card will be sent
instead)
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